On April 27th, Liu Bi’an and 16 others were sentenced for the crimes of illegal fundraising and illegally absorbing public deposits. Liu Bi’an was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of illegal fundraising. The other 15 defendants were sentenced to varying prison terms ranging from 5 to 15 years.
According to the charges, starting in August 2014, Liu Bi’an and others, without the qualifications for attracting public deposits, used the names of Zhongzhan Huaxin Group Co., Ltd. and multiple related companies. They falsely promoted investment projects and offered high returns as bait to the public through fictitious means. They raised more than 31.4 billion yuan (RMB) from the public. Most of the funds raised were used for repaying principal and interest, paying salaries and commissions to employees, personal use, and extravagance, causing economic losses of more than 6.1 billion yuan to the participants.
Zhongzhan Huaxin Group Co., Ltd. was established on November 27, 2015, with Liu Bi’an as the legal representative. The registered capital was 1.3 billion yuan, and it was a wholly-owned limited liability company (sole proprietorship) controlled by the Yujing Strategic Research Center. The business unit was deregistered in November 2023.
In August 2023, a subsidiary of the company in Hunan was under investigation, and criminal coercive measures were taken against Liu Bi’an and other personnel involved.
In April 2024, Liu Bi’an and others were prosecuted for a series of cases involving charges of illegal fundraising and illegally absorbing public deposits. Liu Bi’an used Li Guofu as a nominee to hold the equity of Changsha Jinsen New Energy Co., Ltd. and arranged for the company to provide 335 million yuan to participate in the equity acquisition of Mengjie Shares. This violation led to Changsha Jinsen being investigated in November 2023.